Spermatophore

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mating behaviour

...in a flattened manner, and approaching other individuals with a jerky motion. This fourth arm in squids and the third arm in octopods, called a hectocotylus, is structurally modified for carrying spermatophores, or balls of sperm. The male cuttlefish (Sepia) places the spermatophores in a pocket near the female’s mouth, from which the sperm subsequently make their way to the tubes that...

...grasshoppers do not permit copulation. In many crickets, the specific stridulations (noises) that occur after each copulation keep the female near the male until he is ready to produce another spermatophore. These stridulations also prevent the female from removing the spermatophores before insemination has been completed.

reproduction in

arachnids

In most cases the male does not transfer spermatozoa directly to the female but rather initiates courtship rituals in which the female is induced to accept the gelatinous sperm capsule (spermatophore). During mating the sperm are transferred to a sac (spermatheca) within the female reproductive system. The eggs are fertilized as they are laid. Mating in sunspiders is more active, occurring at...

arthropods

In arthropods, sperm are commonly transferred to the female within sealed packets known as spermatophores. In this method of transfer the sperm are not diluted by the surrounding medium, in the case of aquatic forms, nor do they suffer from rapid desiccation on land. Among some arachnids, such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and some mites, the stalked spermatophore is deposited on the ground....

crustaceans

...Almost any appendage can be found modified for this purpose. Male appendages also can be modified to aid directly in transferring sperm to the female. Frequently the sperm are enclosed in a case, or spermatophore. The first and second abdominal appendages of male decapods are used to transfer spermatophores, as are the highly modified fifth legs of male copepods of the order Calanoida. These...

gastropods

...and the other as a female, or copulation can be reciprocal. During evolution, loosely adherent masses of sperm gave rise to enclosed packets of sperm and then to horny or calcareous sperm bundles (spermatophores) with elaborately ornamented exteriors. It is not uncommon for there to be as many as 12 such spermatophores inside the bursa of one female. Closely related species show clear...

insects

...way up to the receptaculum seminis, or spermatheca, where they are stored, ready to fertilize the eggs. In most insects, the male accessory glands secrete materials that form a tough capsule, or spermatophore; spermatozoa are encased in this spermatophore, which is inserted into the entrance of the vagina. The spermatophore walls commonly contain a gelatinous substance that swells upon...

lepidopterans

...receptacles and ducts for receiving, conducting, and storing sperm. The individual oviducts join to form a common oviduct that leads to the vagina. In copulation the male deposits a sperm capsule (spermatophore) in a receptacle of the female. The spermatophore releases the sperm, which swim into the oviduct and thence to the seminal receptacle, where they are stored until egg laying. This may...

mollusks

Fertilization by transfer of capsules containing sperm (spermatophores) typically occurs in cephalopods and some gastropods. In cephalopods, transfer of spermatophores is usually combined with copulation by a modified arm, or hectocotylus. Copulation in solenogasters, often by means of a special genital cone, may be supported by copulatory stylets. Various penis formations, in part with...

orthopterans

...secretions provide not only the medium for carrying the sperm but also a material that solidifies to form a thin-walled sac, or reservoir, containing some sperm and fluid. This reservoir, called the spermatophore, is almost universally found among orthopterans.

salamanders

...then sheds milt (which contains the sperm) over them. Nothing is known of courtship in sirens, but they, too, may have external fertilization, for the males lack the cloacal glands that produce the spermatophore, or sperm case, in species with internal fertilization, and the females lack spermathecae—chambers inside the cloaca used for sperm storage. However, sirens also lay single eggs,...

structure in

cephalopods

In males the reproductive system contains a series of chambers or sacs along the course of the vas deferens, which produce long tubes (spermatophores) to contain the spermatozoa. The final sac (Needham’s organ) is used for storage of spermatophores. The spermatophores are complicated, containing sperm reservoir, cement body, cap, and a delicate triggering mechanism for releasing the tube and...

scorpions

...à deux. These actions result from the efforts of the pair to find a smooth surface on which the male can extrude a glandular secretion that forms a stalk to which the spermatophore (sperm-containing structure) is attached. He then maneuvers the female so that her genital opening contacts the spermatophore. Once she is positioned over the spermatophore, physical...

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